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All motor street/strip build.

Okay so I have a 1990 celica gt. I've been drag racing in my past Street car's but I now have a project to build. The celica is 100% bone stock. I know what kinda power I want to make and money and time is not a problem. So where should I start. The car is rough but it runs and drives. It needs some front end work and some body work. But I can get all that done in due time. I want to build the trans and 5sfe engine in it. I don't really know much about the Toyota platform I'm a Honda but that's going to the light side of the import world. Lol I know everyone looks at Honda's like the dark side lol. So any help, advice and support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Toyota S series engine. 3sfe, 3sge, 3sgte, 5sfe. All a common platform with many shared parts. a 5sfe is basically a bored out 3sfe. 3S engines are 2.0 liter, 5s are 2.2
toyota ECU's aren't hackable like the Honda. You'll want to go either full stand alone ecu or swap to a honda distributor and honda ECU. It's been done but not documented very well. The distributor needs machine work done to fit the toyota head. Nothing crazy but it'll require a true machine shop to do it.
I guess, here's the thing. You can build a all motor 5sfe, but there's really no off the shelf stuff. But here's what I'd do I suppose.
Swap to a 3sge head so you get true dual over head cams instead of a slave cam. You'll find info on this from people who put the 3sgte(turbo) head on a 5sfe to make what we call a 5sgte. Do all the typical valve work to spin high RPM without floating valves. Convert to shimless buckets from a 1ZZ toyota engine, you'll find plenty of info on that.
Cams will probably end up being a custom grind as there isn't much aftermarket for them. Stock 3sge cams are pretty dang good though, for turbo applications.
High compression pistons naturally. Maybe there are some out there but it'll probably end up being custom. Balance the rotating assembly.
Lightweight flywheel
E85 of course
N2O wet kit
Lots of tuning
E153 LSD 5 speed transmission from a Solara V6. Hard to find. Also came in the MR2 but needs extra work to convert to work in a front engine vehicle, documented pretty well.
Once you've done all that and realize you still can't get enough HP to be competitive rip it all out, swap in a JDM 3SGTE turbo engine and build it to make 600hp easily. The good news is you'll all ready have the right tranny for it and an ECU to tune it with. The 3SGTE will drop right in, no cutting and welding of motor mounts etc but you'll have several little things to do. With no VVT you aren't gonna get the best bang for your buck building a 5S engine. There is the 3SGE BEAMS which has VVT and can make good power but they are kinda expensive and were never brought to the USA so finding parts can be a bit difficult.

Last edited by Murgatroy; 08-09-2016 at 02:44 PM.
Reason: E153 only has five forward gears, not six.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by manda

what do I know? I'm just a woman on a car forum..
guess I better get back to makin your sammich

Cheese! Cheese for everyone! Wait..no. No cheese for you!

89 Celica GT To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

88 ST165 "To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts."
07 4Runner SR5

There are a lot of cats there that have thrown a lot of good money at trying to make Celicas fast. Some of the folks here have been doing it for nearly twenty years, or longer, with that long of a knowledge base.

You can 'hoe your own row,' or listen to the advice given here and save a lot of heartache and empty pockets.

If you want a fast drag race Celica, you will have to swap the engine or put a turbo on it, or swap a turbo engine into it. There are a handful of cats that have built quick drag cars here. None of them have done it with a 5SFE. Even with thousands of dollars poured into it.

I understand you are doing this for a deceased friend. Matt (Collapsed Nut) and I understand that with intimacy. Bruce (Hookecho), a fellow staff member here on Celicatech was killed on duty several years ago. Matt and I hunted down his 3SGTE swapped GT-S that he sold right before his death. We bought it. Parts of that car are on cars all over the site now. Including Chaos and Mudhoney (Matt's 3SGTE swapped 4th Gen that I sold him several years ago.) So trust me when I tell you we are trying to help you achieve your goals, but at the same time keep you from throwing good money after bad ideas.

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Yoda for President

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Chaos `90 Celica

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Harmony `13 Mustang

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Thank God for Rednecks!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Vince

Bullshit asshole, no one likes the tuna here!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Murg's Wife

The 2ZZ has been put into MK1 MR2s. They came with 4AGE engines. So to swap a 2ZZ you would have to go reverse from a 4AFE guy swapping to a S series. Motormounts, cross members, axles, transmission etc. A lot of hassle for significantly less HP than a 3SGTE or other more modern engine.

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Yoda for President

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Chaos `90 Celica

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Harmony `13 Mustang

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Tallahassee

Thank God for Rednecks!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Vince

Bullshit asshole, no one likes the tuna here!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by Murg's Wife

If you do the 3SGTE route, get the E153 transmission..You won't be able to put your power to the ground without it. I have a 3sgte in a 89 celica, and I'm only pushing 10psi of boost, still can't keep traction.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Originally Posted by manda

what do I know? I'm just a woman on a car forum..
guess I better get back to makin your sammich

Cheese! Cheese for everyone! Wait..no. No cheese for you!

89 Celica GT To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

88 ST165 "To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts."
07 4Runner SR5

If you do the 3SGTE route, get the E153 transmission..You won't be able to put your power to the ground without it. I have a 3sgte in a 89 celica, and I'm only pushing 10psi of boost, still can't keep traction.

Even with the E153 with LSD installed traction was still an issue in my swap.

you can go with a v6 hybrid motor. check out smaay 1mz/3mz build on 6gc forums

Both 4 cylinder engine set ups:

Buy An Altezza Dual VVT-i and a Celica Redtop Engine. Put redtop parts onto altezza motor to make it fwd, slap some 4age ITB, Apexi Power FC ECU plug and play ($800) and a 2.5" or 2.75" exhaust system for 200-210 whp on stock internals.

Secondly buy a Rav4 Beams Greytop motor. Make custom header ($1000ish), buy Catcom cams kit ($1200), altezza pistons, 4age itb set up ($300ish?), participate in our Custom Ring and Pinion group so you can have more torque than any K20 or K22 build. The net power from this setup is unknown but im guessing somewhere near 210whp for sure, depending on degree of cams.

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